Reality Check

In the sad situation in which Steve McNair came to his death, at the hands of an illicit lover, what does appear to be obvious details of the murder-suicide is something authorities haven’t revealed, and won’t. All of McNair’s friends are doing their best to paint a picture that cleanses the quarterback’s character. But for naught, for this would appear to be the truth of the matter:

Sahel Kazemi, the 20-year-old waitress McNair reportedly met at Dave and Buster’s, had come to realize the situation as it really was. The alleged gift of a Cadillac just a few days before was not enough to throw her off course. The delusion that McNair was divorcing his wife to marry her was finally realized as a pure charade.

He had led her on. He had led her on for six months, she was a mere passing victim in an all-star athlete’s life. Something triggered a realization that he was not divorcing his wife, that she had been a toy in his clutches, and she moved into action. If she couldn’t have him, nobody else could. So she bought a gun. She met him in their trysting place on a Saturday, she turned the gun on him, then made her one-shot exit. The fact that she shot him four times indicates a deep fury. (You turn on “Frankie and Johnnie” for background music here).

A 36-year-old former football star, everybody’s hero, and a vulnerable 20-year-old from a foreign country—a sorrowfully serious mismatch which sheds the football star of his cloak as a one-time hero. It is what it is, a sad reality, despite the efforts to give it a shiny coat.